Buena Vista Grasslands

Southwestern Portage County. This area was formerly a marsh dominated by tamarack, black spruce, and cattails. In the early 1900s it was drained for agricultural purposes. In the mid 1950s a successful partnership between the Department, Dane County Conservation League, and Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus was created to purchase land specifically for management of grassland habitat for the greater prairie chicken (a state threatened species in Wisconsin) and other grassland dependent species. Buena Vista Grasslands is home to the largest concentration of greater prairie chickens in Wisconsin and represents one of the most extensive grasslands east of the Mississippi River.
The property harbors a healthy population of other important grassland bird species that include: Henslow sparrows (state threatened species), short-eared owls, upland sandpipers, northern harriers, bobolink,s and eastern and western meadowlarks, to name a few.
Activities include hunting, trapping, hiking and birdwatching. From the intersection of State Hwy. 54 and County Hwy. F (west of Plover), go south on County Hwy. F 6 miles, then east on Griffith Avenue 0.75 mile to the southern boundary of the natural area.